Social Dimension S o ci al D im en si o n 141

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1 Social Dimension Social Dimension 141

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3 5 th Pillar: Social Justice Fifth Pillar: Social Justice Overview of Current Situation In the framework of the Sustainable Development Strategy: Egypt 2030, social justice strategy is based on a comprehensive concept that aims to achieve social inclusion. This target can only be fulfilled by strong institutional partnerships among the state, civil society, and the private sector as development partners. The social justice strategy ensures equal rights and opportunities among all Egyptians and effective elimination of all sorts of social gaps. The Egyptian Constitution of 2014 includes many articles that ensure social justice such as protection of labor rights, provision of social insurance and retirement pensions for laborers and farmers, as well as the right to health care. The Constitution also allocates no less than 3% of the GNP for the health sector, no less than 4% for education, and 2% for university education. The Constitution also aims to eliminating illiteracy and digital illiteracy. Additionally, the Constitution ensures equal opportunities, fair distribution of development outcomes, reduction of income gaps, full adherence to minimum and maximum wage laws, and a progressive income tax. Each citizen has the right to healthy and sufficient food and clean water. Many studies refer to the increasingly widening social gaps that require quick and strong intervention in order to achieve the ambitions of Egyptians who raised social justice as one of their main slogans during the 25 January and 30 June revolutions. Social justice includes the following seven dimensions: 1 1. Economic Dimension: This refers to participating in the production process and reaping its benefits. 2. Social Dimension: This aims to achieve equal rights and social opportunities in the education, health, and other basic services. 3. Human Dimension: This aims to provide a decent life, human rights protection, and equal opportunities for all. 4. Regional Dimension: This aims to reduce the geographical gaps and address the misallocation of resources among different regions of the state. 5. Generational Dimension: This aims at ensuring justice among different generations. 6. Organizational Dimension: This deals with freedom issues, political rights, and political empowerment. 1 Center for Private International Projects, 2014, The Way to Social Justice. 143

4 7. Cultural Dimension: This emphasizes the system of values and its role in achieving social justice. The role of development partners in achieving social justice is defined as follows: The role of the State: The State aims to provide basic quality services and ensure balanced distribution of these services among all the regions. General policies should aim to achieve economic development as well as fair distribution of its benefits. The State will be responsible for providing and expanding social welfare and protection networks. Also, the State should properly determine the legislative, institutional, and managerial regulations in order to fight corruption, eliminate monopolistic behavior, and emphasize consumer protection. In addition, the State should provide an Information Technology (IT) system that allows more transparency and efficiency in achieving social justice, and funding programs that focus on upgrading and empowering women, young people, and marginalized groups. The role of civil society: Charity aims to mitigate the effects of poverty and reduce the negative effects of societal gaps. It can focus on building capacities, achieving empowerment, and providing opportunities for social mobility. Civil society can cooperate with the State in achieving the priorities of social justice. The role of the private sector: The private sector could be engaged in social responsibility programs in coordination with other development partners in order to provide equal opportunities for decent work with no discrimination. In spite of the increase in GDP from LE billion in to LE billion in in fixed prices, the poverty rates have increased from 19.6% to 25.2% during the same period, according to Ministry of Planning (MOP) and data from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS). Poverty rates are widespread in rural areas, especially in Upper Egypt, whereas more than half of the population lives below the poverty line, which refers to the geographical gap among regions in poverty and standards of living. 2 With higher population growth within the poor compared with higher income categories, the poverty problem cannot be tackled through direct subsidies and support, even though it is inevitably important in the short and medium terms. It is better to focus on social mobility and provide equal opportunities and quality basic services. Concerning public expenditures on education and health as a percentage of the GNP, the government will increase expenditures on services gradually to reach the targeted rate according to the Constitution of 2014 during the next period and to enhance the quality of services. Empowering women and youth is considered one of the most important factors in the strategy of social justice. Women represent around 49% of the total population while young people between the ages of are about 30% of the total population. 3 However, Egypt s rank in the indicator of gender equality published by the World Economic Forum, declined from 123 in 2011 to 129 in Ministry of Planning, Follow-up and Administrative Reform and CAPMAS 3 CAPMAS 144

5 5 th Pillar: Social Justice In addition, education indicators, such as illiteracy and enrollment rates, reflect a gender gap as well as notable geographic gaps. The illiteracy rate reached 23.2% in 2014, 15.7% for males and 31% for females. The highest rates of illiteracy were recorded in Assiut and Al Fayoum (33.3% and 30.4% respectively), while the lowest ones were in the Red Sea Governorate (7.1%) and Ismailia (10.5%). 4 On the other hand, the unemployment rate was 12.8% in at the macro level. The structural imbalance witnessed by the labor market is also important it reached 9.3% among men and 24.1% among women, among young people age it reached 26% for the same year, which indicates a widening generation/gender gap. Also, the rate of net enrolment in university education for urban areas was twice its counterpart for rural areas. 5 In light of these challenges, the strategic vision for social justice was elaborated until 2030, in order to identify a clear roadmap to determine the objectives for social justice as well as the related Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). This will also contribute in achieving the United Nation s SDGs in general, and especially Goal No.1 that is related to poverty eradication, Goal No. 2 that focuses on hunger eradication, and Goal No. 5 that is concerned with gender equality. Strategic Vision for Social Justice to 2030 By 2030, Egypt is a fair interdependent society characterized by equal economic, social, and political rights and opportunities, realizing social inclusion. A society that supports citizens rights to participate based on efficiency and according to law, encouraging social mobility based on skills. A society that provides protection, and support to marginalized and vulnerable groups and protects the neediest. This strategic vision aims at developing some parameters for the country s economic approach in order to guarantee the achievement of social justice. It also specifies the role of the government and the roles of the private sector and civil society in achieving social justice and the mechanisms of striking a balance between charity work and development work and between the priorities of the present time and the future considerations. 4 ) International Population Council 2014 Survery of Egyptian Youth

6 Strategic Objectives for Social Justice to 2030 The strategic vision for social justice has been translated into a set of strategic objectives as follows: Objective Definition Enhancing social inclusion Achieving equal rights and opportunities Providing protection for the neediest groups Increasing social inclusion and establishing an effective partnership among development partners (the state, civil society, and the private sector) Promoting social mobility opportunities through an institutional system in order to achieve equal economic, social, and political opportunities. Guaranteeing fair distribution and reducing class divisions by providing support to marginalized groups The first objective aims to achieve comprehensive social inclusion, enhancing confidence among development partners, as well as empowering women and young people in order to reduce the gender and generation gaps, in addition to respect for human rights. The second objective targets equal rights and opportunities in order to establish social mobility, by reducing geographical gaps and providing quality main services including health, education, decent work, and social protection. All of these will be reflected in raising the standard of living for individuals and providing the basic standards of a quality life for the Egyptian citizen. Finally, the third objective focuses on positive discrimination towards marginalized and the most needy social groups, including those below the extreme poverty line, homeless children, people with special needs, the elderly, and residents of the most dangerous slums. Key Performance Indicators for Social Justice to 2030 These are tools for measuring achievements of social justice in the form of inputs, outputs, and strategic achievements. A set of indicators were chosen to monitor the real achievements registered towards ensuring social justice, as well as the current status of these indicators, and the values of those targeted for 2020 and 2030 were determined. The indicators and targeted values are as follows: 146

7 5 th Pillar: Social Justice Quantitative Indicators S.N Indicator Category Indicator Definition Current Status 2020 Target 2030 Target 1 Geographical gap in human development index Measuring the geographical gap among the governorates in human development indicator, coming out from UNDP (1) Strategic Results GDP per capita (USD) (6) Measuring the equity of distribution of GDP among social classes (2) Income and consumption distribution index Measuring the geographical gap among rural and urban regions in income distribution and per capita share in national consumption. 31 (2) International rank of the gender gap index Measuring the international rank of Egypt in the gender gap indicators, measuring the level of achieving gender equality in political, economic, and social rights and opportunities 129 (3) Confidence in government indicator (%) Measuring how far citizens trust the government 60% (1) 70% 80% 6 Outputs Geographical gap in completing primary education index Measuring the geographical gap among regions in providing primary education in the age range 4-14 years of age 7 (4) Geographical gap in child mortality rate Measuring the geographical gap in the child mortality rate for those less than 5 years of age 8.2 (2) Geographical gap in the percentage of population under poverty line (%) Measuring the geographical gap in the poverty rate among the regions 17% (5) 10% 5% 9 Percentage of female headed households living under the poverty line The percentage of female headed households that live under the poverty line 26.3% (5) 12% 0% 147

8 S.N Indicator Category Indicator Definition Current Status 2020 Target 2030 Target 10 Percentage of population under the extreme poverty line The percentage of the poor that suffer from extreme poverty 4.4% (5) 2.5% 0% (1) UNPD, 2014, Database of the United Nations Program for Development (2) CAPMAS, 2015, Egypt in Numbers report (3) World Economic Forum, 2014, International Report on Gender Gap (4) World Bank, 2014, World Bank Database (5) CAPMAS, 2014, Income, Consumption, and Expenditures Survey for (6) This indicator is also mentioned in the Economic Development Pillar (7) *This indicator is measured according to gender and age groups Newly Added Indicators* S.N Indicator Category Indicator Definition Measurement Mechanism 1 Strategic results Axial positive values indicator The impact of social work on the personal behaviors by measuring the main values of society define the positive values to calculate the indicator and identify the mechanisms of measurement 2 Human rights indicator The general situation of human rights in the political, economic, and social aspects via quantitative and qualitative mechanisms Forming a committee of the concerned authorities and international experts to finally agree on the indicator in order to measure the human rights according to quantitative and qualitative standards 3 Outputs The unemployment rate among people with special needs How job opportunities are provided to handicapped people Forming a committee of the concerned authorities and international experts to specify an appropriate methodology to estimate indicators that focus on employment, unemployment, and handicapped persons 4 The percentage of elderly persons under the poverty line How poverty spreads among the elderly Periodic survey of the elderly under the poverty line 5 The percentage of population in insecure slum The spread of slum zones in Egypt Periodic surveys of the insecure slum areas 148

9 5 th Pillar: Social Justice S.N Indicator Category Indicator Definition Measurement Mechanism areas 6 Homeless children The number of homeless children as a percentage of the total number of children Periodic survey of homeless children 7 Political and civil participation of women How far the woman participates in civil and political life define the elements of the indicator via polls and data of political participation in elections besides the indicators that measure the impact on policy making 8 Indicator of ease of the civil work How far the civil work is easy via evaluating the related procedures and laws suggest methods of measurement including the procedures, complications, costs, registration restrictions, and activities 9 Inputs Indicator of social responsibility for the firms How far the firms are committed to social responsibility besides the degree of coordination of the national priorities in developmental and charity works suggest methods of measurement including assessing the information provided by firms about governmental and environmental practices and the labors and their social responsibility as well as the liquidity and market size 10 Geographical gap in the education quality Measuring the geographical gap among the governorates about the quality of the educational services via quantity and quality criteria suggest methods of measurement including polls and data related to educational services and quality in the various governorates 11 Geographical gap in health service quality Measuring geographical gaps in the quality of health services among the governorates via quantity and quality criteria put up methods of measurement include polls and data related to the health services and its quality in the various governorates as well as the health rate of the citizens 12 Geographical gap in getting a decent Measuring the geographical gap among the regions in getting a suggest methods of measurement 149

10 S.N Indicator Category Indicator Definition Measurement Mechanism job decent job including polls and data related to the economy and employment in the various governorates according to the definition of decent work by the ILO and within the framework of decent work programs (as indicated in the economic development pillar) 13 Geographical gap in the percentage of employees with health insurance Measuring geographical gaps in the percentage of employees with health insurance in both the governmental and private sectors among the urban and rural zones Measuring the standard deviation of percentage of employees with health insurance 14 Geographical gap in the percentage of employees with social insurance Measuring geographical gaps in the percentage of employees with social insurance in the governmental and private sectors Measuring the standard deviation of socially insured citizens throughout the governorates 15 Subsidy efficiency Measuring the quality of the governmental system in targeting the classes that are in need of subsidy suggest methods of measurement that include measures of the social effect of the subsidy system 16 Beneficiaries from micro-loans How far the limited income and poor groups benefit from micro-loans suggest methods of measurement that include various aspects of funding small and micro projects 17 Beneficiaries of the social welfare programs How efficient are the programs of social welfare in full absorption of eligible persons Preparing a database to be updated periodically about the beneficiaries * Such indicators are measured according to gender and age groups 150

11 5 th Pillar: Social Justice Challenges of Social Justice Social justice covers many challenges that can be classified into three categories: the first category deals with high priority challenges in the short term, the second category are characterized by their weaker impact and are classified as second priority. The third category of challenges are those with the least impact but which could easily be handled. We will discuss the challenges below according to their level of impact and the ability to handle them: The first group focuses on challenges that could be easily controlled and are characterized by their high impact: Continuous increase in the social, economic, generational, and gender gaps as a result of a lack of all types of social justice. Increasing rates of population growth especially among the poorest. This constitutes a growing burden for the social protection networks. Equality gap in the geographic distribution of services and providing the minimum level in the neediest areas, which could affect social inclusion negatively. High rate of internal migration inside and among the different governorates, which would affect the ability and competitiveness of the areas that are most affected by this phenomena. High cost of living (housing, clothing, food, education, and healthcare), which could worsen the social gap and exacerbate the status of the poor and the extremely poor. The second group of challenges is distinguished by its relatively low impact while being difficult to overcome: Lack of confidence between the state and civil society, which is a heritage after decades as a result of bureaucracy and the absence of transparency and accountability in addition to the weakness of the governance system that the state is trying to develop. Inefficiency of the subsidy system, which should contribute to achieving social protection and welfare. Incomplete database of the marginalized and most needy groups, which represents an important step towards planning and distributing subsidies, measuring their efficiency, and better targeting those who need them. Growing informal sector and the difficulty in protecting the rights of workers and employees in this sector, which constitutes an obstacle towards providing social protection and care to employees and workers in this sector. Lack of institutional efforts that help in empowering young people, women, and marginalized groups, which could hamper effective efforts to achieve social justice. 151

12 The third group of challenges with limited impact and characterized by the ability to overcome: Lack of coordination among government, civil society, and the private sector and linking them with the priorities of social needs, which would lead to the dispersal of the efforts supporting social justice and losing focus on the priorities of community requirements. Poor legal empowerment for marginalized groups, which could hamper the efforts of government, the private sector, and civil society regarding provision of incentives, coordination, and monitoring. Social Justice Programs to 2030 According to the comprehensive vision and strategic objectives of social justice along with the performance indicators that were chosen to measure the rate of developments achieved to positively accomplish these objectives with a view to the future visions of social justice in Egypt by 2030, we will highlight the most important programs chosen and expected to facilitate fulfillment of the vision, objectives, and indicators. It is worth mentioning that these programs are integrated with the current State efforts to achieve social justice, including implementing a social housing program all over the country, developing social insurance and pensions system, extending the social insurance umbrella to include small farmers, developing the effectiveness of the subsidization system, and raising the quality of the food supply. These efforts are also integrated with the works of civil social organizations and the activities of the private sector through projects and initiatives with regard to corporate social responsibility. Developing the Legal and Governance Framework Program: Reviewing and developing laws and legislation related to social justice and integration: Program Description: This program aims to develop the legislation and laws related to social justice and social integration to motivate social development work in order to reduce social and categorical gaps. This program is considered a low cost one and is targeted to be accomplished between 2016 and Key Elements: - Review the Law on Non-governmental Organizations (Law Number 84 of the year 2002) in order to facilitate the registration procedures, work, and process for receiving donations; expanding the law s effectiveness, and repealing the articles contradicted with political practice freedom. - Review the legislation concerning micro-loans and bankruptcy to motivate the establishment of small and micro enterprises and businesses. - Review the legislation concerning the endowments system to encourage performing the desired role in social development. 152

13 5 th Pillar: Social Justice - Review the legislation concerning the free speech for journalists in order to achieve transparency and competitiveness in political action. - Amend the articles of the Penal Code that relate to all aspects of violence against women since harsh punishment shall come into force in order to guarantee the protection of women against violence and discrimination. - Develop detailed legislative rules determining the obligations of public and private institutions all over the state, relating to equality of opportunities and prohibition of discrimination among citizens. Institutionalizing the partnership between the State and the civil society: Program Description: Develop the institutional frameworks for partnerships between the State and civil society by adopting a policy to enhance the governance level in civil society with the aim of working side-by-side with the development efforts of the State, and expanding its role to be more effective as a main partner in development. This program is considered a low cost one and is targeted to be accomplished between 2016 and Key Elements: - Develop the regulations of civil society governance to increase transparency and enhance the controlling mechanisms for civil society s work. - Integrate civil organizations into sectorial plans with executive functions in order to increase the efficiency of civil society and alleviate the burden on government institutions. - Encourage the role of the General Union for Associations and Non-governmental Institutions in coordinating between the governmental and civil society work to develop the efficiency of communication and coordination between the government and civil society. Developing and expanding the role of State authorities concerned with transparency and protection: Program Description: Develop and expand the role of State authorities that are directly related to achieving transparency and guaranteeing protection in order to increase the citizens trust in governmental organizations. This program is considered a low cost one and is targeted to be accomplished between 2016 and Key Elements: - Develop, expand, and encourage the role of the official controlling authorities to achieve transparency and ensure citizen protection, including the Consumer Protection Authority, Competition Protection Body, Labor Office, Central Auditing Agency, Administrative Control Authority, and Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics; and agencies responsible to forbid monopolistic actions. 153

14 - Activate the role of the ombudsman and the committee for equal opportunity in order to apply the legalization of equal opportunities and prohibiting discrimination, the ombudsman shall have the independence and necessary abilities to control both governmental and private enterprises and to investigate any complaints. Supporting programs to achieve visions and objectives of social justice: Improving the social protection and subsidy systems and expanding their coverage Program Description: Develop social protection and subsidization systems to be linked to an accurate and updated database, evaluated according to efficiency assessment mechanisms to guarantee the protection and the delivery of subsidies in their various forms, and to meet its social impact. This program is considered a low cost one and is targeted to be accomplished between 2016 and Key Elements: - Complete the citizens database that will be the foundation for planning the required volume growth for the social welfare network, raising the efficiency of the state administrative authority, and reducing corruption. - Implement an integrated program to expand the social protection and welfare network, including all kinds of subsidization, and determining priority groups, responsibilities, and annual coverage objectives in order to provide insurance against unemployment, illness, and old age, ensuring equal distribution of resources and charges and to protect the destitute class of the society. - Create an indicator for measuring the quality of subsidies via various quality and quantity census and statistics. Reducing the social generation and gender gaps: Program Description: This program aims to achieve social inclusion by reducing social, generation, and gender gaps, while maintaining equal opportunities. This program has medium costs and is expected to start be implemented between 2016 and Key Elements: - Support entrepreneurship to provide job opportunities for young people, especially for those in the neediest areas. - Apply the list election system to encourage young people and women to participate in political life. - Launch a program that aims to increase the number of students in poor zones to enroll in pilot schools/smart schools/schools with certified quality education. 154

15 5 th Pillar: Social Justice - Launch a comprehensive program in all the governorates to increase the use of computers among the students of governmental preparatory schools and thus improve the level of social mobility. - Launch an integrated program in poor areas to increase the enrollment in higher education especially in fields with higher returns and thus improve the level of social mobility. Achieving a balanced geographical distribution of services: Program Description: This program targets balanced geographical distribution of services by establishing development activities at the local level. This program has medium costs and is expected to be implemented by Key Elements: - Establish an integrated incentive program to encourage employees to work in the administrative system in the governorates and neediest areas. - Adopt a model for financing investments at the local level to provide public services while performing an ongoing review in order to guarantee meeting the annual investments of citizens requirements at the local level in addition to bridging the different development gaps. - Develop a motivating program for a gradual shift of civil society s focus on charity towards establishing developmental activities for all civil society associations countrywide. 155

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